9 things to do this Mid-Autumn Festival
This year's Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Thursday 15 September, marking the turn of the season and blessing us all with a three day break from 15-17 September. Here are the best ways to relax, recharge and indulge over the long weekend.
1. Get your fix of Shanghai's best mooncakes
Let's get the obvious out the way and start with these tasty little Mid-Autumn must-haves. If you're new around here, mooncakes are basically bundles of flaky, layered white pastry enveloping savoury or sweet fillings. The traditional treats are sold across the city throughout the festive period, and you can check out our essential guide to the best places to get them on our food page.
2. Get down at a music festival
What better way to leave your work worries behind than to head to one of Shanghai's music festivals? Concrete and Grass takes place at Shanghai Rugby Club on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 with Edison Chen, A$AP Ferg, Stephen Malkmus, DJ Craze and The Cribs heading the bill. Check out our music page for more info.
If Britpop is more your style MOMA Festival have Suede headlining their folk and rock-based affair at Century Park, or if you're after a path to enlightenment under the full moon Shalanaya Open Air Festival promises an 'inclusive spiritual journey' featuring fire dancing and live art just outside of Zhujiajiao. For a quieter vibe, there's also Zhujiajiao Water Village Music Festival that returns for its tenth year with live music on and around the canals. Nice.
3. Escape on a short break from the city
If Zhujiajiao's festivals sound appealing but you don't quite fancy the tent life, we've got you covered with an alternative guide to the ever popular water town on our travel page. Further afield, there's a whole host of fantastic day and weekend trips just a short journey outside of Shanghai, and no better time than to take advantage of the extra day and head away from the city - as long as the weather behaves (we're forecast to get the edge of typhoon Meranti at some point this week). You can find that on our travel page too.
4. Immerse yourself in Shanghai's art season
If you are staying in the city for the festive break then be sure to hit up some of Shanghai's best art galleries and museums, lots of which have massive exhibitions on at the moment in honour of Shanghai art season.
If you fancy a free guided tour of the city's art hotspots, Art in The City are offering hop on hop off bus tours on Friday 16 and Saturday 17, taking passengers to some of the biggest exhibitions at M50, Power Station of Art, The West Bund art area and Shanghai Exhibition Center. There's no catch - just secure your free ticket early by visiting chi K11 Art Space or contacting Art in The City directly - see our art page for more info.
5. Enjoy one last summer ice cream
With Mid-Autumn Festival marking the turn of the season, this might well be your last chance to squeeze in one final ice cream - even if there is a typhoon on the way. In case you didn't get the memo that your phone eats first, check out Shanghai's most WeChat-worthy ice creams before you go and grab one of your own.
6. Check out a great gig
If you're not making it to a music festival this Mid-Autumn, hit up a more intimate live music event instead, with London-based indie-rockers Yuck returning to Shanghai on Saturday 17 and Carsick Cars - one of China's most high profile rock bands - celebrating their 10th anniversary over at MAO Livehouse on Sunday 18.
7. Get some cut-price culture
While the Mid-Autumn Festival may mean the big hitters are chock full of tourist, a number of Shanghai's museums and tourist attractions are offering special deals on entry as part of Shanghai Tourism Festival until early October. We don't recommend heading to Nanjing Dong Lu or any of the main museums over the holiday, but with 60 sites to choose from there ought to be a few that are both cheap and relatively crowd-free - find the full list on our blog.
8. Let loose at Arkham
Over on the club scene, a trifecta of Korean hip hop artists kicks off your Mid-Autumn Festival on Thursday night as Blacknut, Girlboy and Vasco spit rhymes while DJs Dag and Bulldog man the decks at Arkham. The following night the club also plays host to Yo'hood: Joey Purp & Kohh, in an afterparty for the YOHO! fashion trade show. If you don't know Joey Purp yet, it's time to get familiar - the regular Chance the Rapper collaborator has been getting a lot of deserved attention of late thanks to his excellent iiiDropsmixtape.
9. Discover some new eats
If you're not filling up on mooncakes, the long weekend could be a good excuse to check out some of Shanghai's hottest new food and drink destinations - whether that's grabbing a Midnight Burger, some authentic Italian pasta at Salotto G or indulging in some fancy French dining in a 'seven star' hotel at MARC.
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